Glass Ionomers - The Fuji Bunch

So we had a pretty big final in Cariology, which includes treatment of caries, which is probably more than 80% of what we do in the clinic. Glass Ionomers are a material with many uses, and we use them all the time in the clinic. They release fluoride and some are stronger than others. I wanted to compile a little post to remind myself of what each one does so here goes:


Fuji Plus - Luting Cement 
Reinforced Luting Cement basically used to cement metal based, or all ceramic inlays, onlays and crowns. It can also be used to cement metal, ceramic or fiber posts.


Fuji II LC - RMGI
Resin Modified GI used for Class III and Class V lesions. It's good for the treatment of root caries, abfraction and cervical lesions. It's also used for restoration of primary teeth, as a base and a liner.
It is NOT used as a pulp cap.


Fuji IX - Heavy Body GI w/ Filler
Heavy Body GI w/ Filler Particles used on root caries lesions, or on roots of amalgams and composites with faulty margins. They can also be used in Class III and Class V lesions in patients with high caries risk. Fuji IX self cures (2.5 min).
It NOT used as a liner, base, pit and fissure sealant, pulp cap, a large core, or a definitive restoration in load bearing areas. It is NOT A RMGI, so does not handle loads well.


Fuji Triage - Flowable GI
Flowable GI used to seal pits and fissures when isolation is not possible, as a liner in deep restorations, or over CaOH, to fill an endo access or as a protective restoration. When used to fill endo access, Fuji Triage prevents Eugenol from the sealer from affecting the bond of the core. It's also pink and self cures (2.5min)
Triage is NOT used as a definitive restoration, base, direct pulp cap, core. It is NOT used to repair faulty amalgams or resins.


Vitrebond - Flowable GI
Flowable GI used as a liner in deep restorations, or over CaOH. It's used to restore endodontic accesses.
It is NOT used as a definitive restoration, base, direct pulp cap, to repair faulty amalgams/resins or as a core.

ECHM Town Hall

Our project of starting a community dental clinic is coming together, and is set to open to the public in February of 2014. On December 5th our group presented our progress thus far to faculty, students and staff in a Town Hall meeting. We wanted to give everyone an overview of whose involved, what's being planned, the location, population we'll be serving and how it's all going to come together. 

Kara, our project leader kicked off our presentation with introductions, and a summary of how we got involved, and an overview of what we all would be discussing. JoAnna then took it from there, discussing the surrounding area, and the need for a dental home at 1500 Broadway. She presented photos of the area, and elaborated on the fact that this is an underserved area. I discussed the collaborations that will be occurring at the clinic with LakeShore Behavioral, Catholic Health, Erie County and UB School of Public Health. We're hoping to be making many interdepartmental referrals, and seeing a different population pool than at Squire hall, which will be a great experience for students. Richie then engaged the audience with photos of our equipment and the blueprints and architectural renderings of the proposed facility.  Josh discussed when this would all be happening, and our plans for marketing and attracting patients. Since we're in an underserved area, we're expecting a large percentage of emergency-walk ins but we need to be prepared for many scenarios. By participating in the Buffalo Clean Sweep Initiatives, and marketing within the community we hope build some hype in the community prior to opening. Last but definitely not least, Hoda closed out the presentation with a discussion of how this clinic would fit into our schedules, what procedures would be done and our goals of going paperless. We plan to provide a broad range of palliative care procedures at first, however the vision is to become a comprehensive care clinic. More complex cases will be referred to Squire Hall, but simple operative, extractions and other procedures such as those could be performed on site. The logistics of how the rotation will work are being decided. Currently, the thought of having a vertically set up rotation, in which students rotate once a week through the clinic for the semester is gaining popularity as it would provide students with an experience that we do not already have. 

While we have made a great deal of progress, this is still a work in progress and the questions we received were all a great help. We're very excited to gain access to the building in January and begin our move in. If there are any other questions or concerns they can be directly to any of us via our emails. Hope everyone is as excited as we are about this new venture!